The Rockies have acquired righty starting pitched Ramon Ortiz from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for minor league infielder Matt Macri.  Ortiz will move right into Jason Hirsh’s spot in the rotation on Saturday.   He pitched in 28 games (10 starts) for the Twins this season and he was 4-4 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  In 91 innings for the Twins he allowed 112 hits, walked 15 batters and whiffed 44.  Getting Ortiz was a good move for the Rockies because the price was right.

If the Rockies can’t make a trade for a starting pitcher before Saturday they likely will recall 21-year old lefty Franklin Morales to start that game.  He has started 20 games this season between AA+AAA ball and he is 5-4 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP.  In 112.2 innings this season he has allowed 97 hits, walked 58 batters and whiffed 93.  Morales has a blazing fastball but if he doesn’t improve his control he will likely have problems pitching half of his games as Coors Field.

The Rockies only let Harikkala start one game for them and decided that they had seen enough.  He pitched 3.1 innings and he allowed 9 hits, 3 earned runs, walked a batter and whiffed 2.  The Rockies are trying to trade for either Josh Towers or Steve Trachsel before they need another starting pitcher.

The Rockies have placed reserve infielder Jeff Baker on the 15-day disabled list with a mild concussion that was caused by him getting hit in the face with a pitch.  Baker has been struggling this season as a reserve as he has played in 71 games this season and he is 27 for 124 (.218 avg, .636 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs.  The Rockies have called up top prospect Ian Stewart to replace Baker on the roster.

The Rockies have signed veteran righty Elmer Dessens to a minor league contract.  They will send him to AAA and stretch him out as a starting pitcher with the idea of letting him start a handful of games in September for them.  He pitched in 12 games this season out of the bullpen for the Brewers and he was 1-1 with a 6.60 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP.  In 15 innings this season he has allowed 24 hits, walked 3 batters and whiffed 12.   Dessens has now pitched in 351 major league games and he has compiled a 47-60 record with 5 saves and a 4.44 ERA.